"Isn't it good Norwegian wood?"
I started listening to The Beatles properly a few years ago only after reading Murakami’s Norwegian Wood . The book remains one of my favourites even today. But it’s the kind of favourite I don’t keep returning to, because it takes me to a place I’d rather not be in (or have emerged from). As a consequence, I’ve also never been able to listen to the song “Norwegian Wood” after I heard it the first time and felt myself violently slip into that void. Until this morning, when it played on shuffle, and I did not Skip. I wonder what has changed, for the emotional intensity and darkness of the book has definitely remained intact for me. I vividly remember staying up all night and practically inhaling the book. Then, heading for class (it was a part of the “Asian Novel” paper), and flatly refusing to share my thoughts because I was so deeply moved. Somehow, talking about it seemed as though it would tarnish my experience. Not to mention, I find it difficult to open up about things I feel ...